Adventures in Curing the Common Cold
by just-grey
Summary: RyanValera. When Valera gets sick, Ryan must take her home, and, thanks to Alexx, must take care of her.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own, you don't sue.

**A/N:**This has been on my hard drive for _months_ just waiting to be finished. And heck, I'm still not even sure if it's finished yet. Its cute, weird, random.

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Ryan walked past her lab for the fifth time in the past half an hour

Ryan walked past her lab for the fifth time in the past half an hour. She was starting to think he was stalking her or something. Finally, she walked out of the lab, having already finished her work ten minutes ago, albeit it was a hard task-migraine and all. Valera slowly walked over to Ryan, who was trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, standing by the glass wall across her lab, his arms crossed; his eyebrows furrowed as if he was deep in thought.

"Okay Ryan, what is it?"

He looked up at her, smiling nervously and he chuckled.

"What are you talking about Valera?"

She rolled her puffed eyes and sniffled.

"You've walked past my lab at least five times. What is it?"

He looked at her with sympathetic eyes. Her voice was raspy when she talked and he could tell that she either sick or had been crying. He doubted she had been crying though. Valera doesn't cry. She was too tough to cry, which meant that she was sick, he concluded. She did look worse for wear, he noted. Her usual styled hair was in a sloppy heap on her head, her eyes were puffy and red, her nose's brim was underlined with red blotches and her cheeks were pinker than usual. Not that he noticed her perfectly pink cheeks, of course.

"Are you…feeling well Valera? Not to be rude, but you don't look so good."

She sighed and looked down the halls, running a palm over her forehead.

"I went to see my sister in law over the weekend; the whole damn house was filled with nasty germy fluey crap. I must've gotten it then. She could've at least told me they were sick, but instead I had to find a cheap hooker hotel because my car got a flat tire and the rental place ran out of cars, how do you run out of cars?!"

Ryan placed a hand on her shoulder as she finally took a breath.

"Listen Valera, why don't I give you a lift home, you shouldn't be here right now."

She sighed deeply, smiled grimly at him and nodded.

"Thanks Ryan," she said to him as he led her to the locker room.

He smiled to himself and watched her as she gathered her things. He noticed that her movements were slower and her breaths were deep. She pulled her large purple purse out of her locker, and was about to put it on her shoulder when a wave of dizziness overcame her and she slouched forward. Her head leaned on the lockers and her hand rested on the rim of her own. Ryan rushed forward to her. His hand came to rest on her lower back and he guided her to the bench, his other arm draped over her shoulders and halfway holding her up. Her hand went to her forehead and she groaned.

"Hey, Valera, you sure you're alright?"

They both sat together on the bench, Valera's purple purse slouching on the ground in front of them. Valera leaned into his chest and shivered. He ran a hand up and down her arm in an attempt to stop her chills.

"Mmhm," she mumbled into him.

He leaned forward and grabbed her purse, she still clinging to him, and then proceeded to lift her from the bench. She whimpered in reply to the sudden movement.

"I know; I know I'm sorry, but I gotta get you home alright?"

She merely nodded.

Together they managed to walk out of the locker room and through most of the halls without unwanted attention. Unfortunately, once they had past the break room, with Calleigh, Alexx and Eric in it, they were forced to stop. All three of them quickly walked over at the sight of Ryan half carrying Valera. Alexx was the first to arrive; who followed was Calleigh, then Eric.

"Ryan what happened?" Alexx started.

He sighed as she gripped tighter to him.

"She's sick, I'm taking her home."

A simple answered, but, unfortunately, they didn't want simple.

"What the hell did you do to her Wolfe?" Eric accused.

He gaped in answer; Calleigh turned back to him and mouthed 'Eric!' Eric shrugged in reply to her.

"I didn't do anything. She went to her sister in laws this weekend and apparently they were all sick, she got it from them."

Alexx touched Valera's shoulder and tilted her head backwards slightly so she could look at her face. Her eyes were closed and she was sweating, Alexx lifted a hand to her forehead. She recoiled quickly.

"My God baby, you're burnin' up! Ryan, I want you to take her home this instant and stay with her. I would do it myself, but I've got too much to do today."

Ryan looked at her pleadingly.

"Alexx, you know about my…_issues_ with sick people. Can't you just drop by later? Please?"

She raised her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't care about your issues Ryan, you are going to take her home and stay with her. Do you hear me?"

Ryan gulped and didn't bother to glare at Calleigh or Eric as they snickered at him being scolded.

"Okay, okay. I'll take her home."

He began to walk away with her, muttering on his way out, _"Years of OCD therapy for nothing…nothing!"_

It didn't take much effort for him to get her in his car, for she was as light as a feather. She merely just plopped onto the passenger seat. He buckled her in carefully and went to the other side of the car to get in. He sat in comfortably and looked over at her; her eyes were half open, half closed.

"Thanks Ry," she mumbled.

'_Ry?'_ he questioned to himself.

"Alright, we _really_ need to get you better."

Along the way to her house, he stopped by a small pharmacy and bought at least forty dollars worth of medicines. When he returned to the car he found her half asleep, bundled up in his suit jacket. She looked so small in his jacket and he took a moment to stare at her. Even in her sick state he found her to be beautiful. He stopped suddenly. When had he begun to find Valera beautiful? He shrugged and shook his head, putting the bags into his car and climbing in. He took off quickly and reached her small house in a small amount of time. He'd never been to her house before, but she had sent him a letter once (explaining that she wasn't angry at him for getting her kicked out of the lab) and he had remembered the address.

It wasn't an impressive abode, but it wasn't horrible. Bright purple Lilies donned the front yard and he concluded that purple must be her favorite color.

"Ry, why are we at my house?" he heard her mumble beside him.

He sighed deeply and got out, gathering the bags from the pharmacy, her purse and her. She managed to stay upright for most of the way to her front door, but her legs gave way more than halfway there. He quickly pulled her into his arms and continued on, wishing silently that her walkway be shorter. He finally reached her door and sighed in relief, until he realized that he would have to go through her things to get her keys.

"Great," he mumbled.

With great skill he managed to open her purse, but dropping it on the floor in the process. He grumbled to himself. All the contents of her big purple slouchy purse were scattered on the floor, for his eyes to see. He spotted a large white wallet, ten or so receipts and crumpled up papers, green tic tacs, a small compact, a music player in a velvet case, her large Sidekick, a folded picture, a purple crayon(figures), and finally her keys-or what resembled keys. He carefully set the pharmacy bags on the ground next to her purse and while holding her in his arms, he picked the keys up. He stared in shock at them. There were at least twenty keys on there, plus numerous key chains.

He shook Valera slightly.

"Valera, wake up. Which key is for your house?"

She jostled awake, squinting at the keys he was holding in front of her face.

"What are you talking about? You don't need a key, I never lock my door."

He almost threw his arms up in frustration, but then remembered that he was using them to hold Valera. Thankfully, she was wide awake now, which meant he could finally put her down. Ryan let her down carefully, still holding onto her to make sure she could stand up straight.

He watched as she opened her door with ease and slowly walked into the house, leaving him on her front porch, groceries and her purse's belongings cluttered on the floor. He grumbled to himself and bent down to pick up her stuff, then hurried in after her.

"Valera? Valera where are you?" he yelled.

Ryan was left alone, and quite frankly, scared, in Valera's living room. It wasn't lit, but still bright in its colors; purples, yellows, pinks and oranges. He never knew someone could pack so many colors into one room. When Valera did not come to his calls he began to get nervous, so he wandered the various rooms and halls looking for her. Finally, he found her in the farthest back room, presumably her bedroom, laid flat down on her bed. He slowly walked over to her, noticing that one of her shoes were off, the other still attached. He sighed and sat down on the bed next to her, removing her shoe and setting it on the floor. To Ryan's surprise, Valera's room wasn't messy or unorganized; in fact it was the complete opposite. Her nightstand was completely void of clutter, a lone clock sitting atop it with a small silver picture frame next to it- Valera with a somewhat taller young man, dark brown hair, sunglasses and a large white smile. He carefully picked the frame up and examined it, they both looked fairly happy and he wondered if they had been an 'item'.

Movement next to him broke him away from his thoughts and he set the frame back down.

"Valera you awake?" he asked her form.

She turned slightly so that her face was facing him; she forcefully opened up her eyes.

"I am now," she grumbled at him.

He smiled sheepishly at her.

"Sorry. Listen I got some medicine for you on the way here-"

"No, no, no, no. I hate medicine. No."

He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Valera come on, it's not that bad; just some cold medicine."

"No. I am not taking it. What don't you get about that?"

"Valera come on!"

"No."

Ryan got up in a flash, surprising Valera. She leaned up on her elbows and watched as he went out of her room.

"Ryan? Ryan what are you doing?"

She got up slowly, still feeling quite light headed and dizzy, and made her way to the doorway. She cautiously peered out and into the small hallway.

"Ryan?"

She entered the hallway slowly and suddenly felt as if she were in some Stephen King movie gone badly.

"Ryan!" she yelled, her mouth opening wide to voice her hoarse yell.

And in that moment, Maxine Valera made her mistake. She suddenly felt a rush of silver and nasty medicine enter her mouth, then leave and strong hands holding her nose closed to that she was forced to swallow. She did, then squirmed, and proceeded to act like she was gagging.

"Oh quit it, it's not that bad."

"You jerk!"

"Jerk?! I'm the one trying to help you and you're making it harder!"

She sighed and hung her head. He sighed also and touched her forearm.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I just want you to get better okay?"

She nodded, still looking down and he gently lifted her chin upwards so he could look at her.

"Why don't I go make you some soup while you go lay down?"

"Thank Ryan," she said as she went back into her room.

He watched as she sat back down on her bed, then got underneath the covers and grabbed a television remote from her nightstand's drawer and began to watch reruns of _Gilmore Girls_. He left to make her soup.

The voices of witty remarks and loud squeals echoed through the halls and into the kitchen where Ryan was almost done with Valera's soup. He quickly stirred the chicken in with the cilantro and beef, carrots and noodles swam around the spoon; Ingrid Olivia Wolfe's, Ryan's grandmother, own secret recipe for the sick-passed down from generation to generation.

He smiled in victory as he tasted the hot liquid run down his throat; perfection. Ryan carefully set a bowl, with the delicious soup in it, a spoon, medicine and a napkin on a breakfast tray-one he had to look high and low for.

As he made his way back to Valera's bedroom his thoughts once again turned to the small photo with Valera and a man in it. He didn't know why he was so obsessed with the mysterious man in the photo. It could, after all, just be her brother. He shrugged and let the thought pass and instead focused on balancing the tray and listening to the voices of Lorelei and Rory.

"_There's meat and there's miss, and I'm happy."_

"_Hm, what's the occasion?"_

'The Party's Over'; his favorite episode. He stopped. Not that he had a favorite episode. Or that he even watched Gilmore Girls to begin with. No, of course not.

He opened the door by turning around and entering backwards. But by the time he turned around he was in for a surprise. There lay Valera, cuddled up with her purple pillow, sleeping away her sickness. He laughed. He didn't laugh at her, though, just the situation. Here he was a breakfast tray in hand and taking care of Maxine Valera. It definitely was a strange experience for him. But, Ryan felt he could get used it. Get used to taking care of Valera, caring for her. He halted.

Maybe he was getting what Valera had, he just wasn't thinking clearly, or was he? Ryan shook his head and set the tray on a nearby small table.

He stood before her bed just staring at the peaceful woman, clearly beautiful still-even in her germ-ful state. He smiled and lowered the audio on her television, settling down next to her. Valera shifted next to him and he looked over to her, afraid that he might have woken her. Her eyes were still closed however, and her breathing peaceful and even. He smiled.

She had shifted closer to him so that her head was by his shoulder and her hand carelessly lay on his chest. He liked the feeling. He'd definitely noticed Valera before, she was a very smart and beautiful woman; she never criticized him, she laughed at his stupid jokes, and she always had a comeback for something he had to say.

Ryan liked Valera. He really liked her. He frowned. He liked Valera. He liked Valera as more than just a friend. He repeated that in his mind a few more times. He _liked_ Valera. He liked Valera as _more_ than just a friend.

Being around a sick person certainly made him contemplate things, a lot. He once again lowered the audio and then nestled further into the bed, Valera scooting closer to him as he did so. His eyes slowly drifted close and he quickly fell asleep with Valera cuddled up next to him.

He woke five hours later to complete warmth and the ringing of a phone. He blinked his eyes open wearily. Valera was still next to him, though he had scooted closer to her as well. He was now on his side, Valera bundled in his strong arms, and he was now staring at her still closed eyes. He smiled softly and pushed a stray hair out of her face. He would have gotten up to get the insistent ringing, but that would mean moving Valera and he just couldn't do that to her peaceful body. So, instead he laid his head back down and just watched Valera as she slept, her breath's air coming through her slightly parted lips. He smiled, his eyes growing droopy once again. His eyes finally shut to a close and he was on his way to a dreamful sleep once again, when he heard Valera's doorbell ring. His eyes grew wide. He slowly disentangled himself from Valera's arms, reluctantly, careful not to wake her.

Thankfully, for the both of them, Valera was a heavy sleeper and Ryan managed to get out the bed and away from her room without waking her.

He quickly reached the door, stopping and fixing a crooked frame on her kitchen counter, and opened it quietly. Eric stood there with a frown, but not just Eric; Calleigh, Horatio and Alexx. All four of them. At Valera's doorstep. Staring at Ryan with deep intensity. Ryan gulped.

He silently stepped outside, closing the large door behind him cautiously, and quietly-still aware of Valera sleeping.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

If Eric's eyes could heat someone with their anger, Ryan would be goo.

"What are we doing here? Alexx tells you to watch Valera and take care of her, we call to see if she's okay and you don't even answer! So tell us Wolfe, what were you doing that was so important that you couldn't answer your phone or her phone? Hm?"

He gulped again.

Calleigh gently rested a hand on Eric's forearm and pulled him back. Ryan wasn't aware he had been in his face.

"What Eric means to say, Mr. Wolfe is…is if Maxine is alright." Horatio said.

"Oh, yeah, yeah she's fine," he quickly assured, "You can go check on her if you want, but she's sleeping. I, uh, gave her some medicine and I was about to give her some of my Gram's famous soup, but she kinda fell asleep."

He smiled sheepishly.

"See Eric, I told you she was in good hands," Calleigh sternly told Eric.

Ryan smiled.

"But you," she continued, turning back to Ryan a scowl on her pretty features, "need to learn how to pick up phones! We thought something had happened! What were you doing?"

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, attempting to explain, but no words came out. How could he tell them he was asleep? Asleep with Valera cuddled up next to him?

Alexx slipped past them and into the house, muttering that she was going to check up on Valera, while Ryan still tried to voice himself.

"Well Wolfe? Spit it out!"

"I, uh, I was-"

"He went to go get me more medicine." A voice interrupted from behind.

He turned around to see a sleepy looking Valera, giving him a small smile. He narrowed his eyes in concern.

"Valera you should be in bed. I left your food in your room if you wanted it, actually we should probably get some food in your system before you take more medicine…do you want to take it now or-"

"Ryan!" Valera interrupted, "Alexx is gonna stay and make sure I take my medicine and junk, but thank you. I really appreciate it."

Ryan's face fell, but he quickly regained his composure. He nodded.

"Oh, uh yeah sure. I'll uh, just go then…hope you uh…feel better then," he muttered as he walked to his car, Calleigh, Horatio and Eric following his path before saying their goodbyes.

Ryan was about to open his car's door, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to find Calleigh and Eric standing before him.

"Listen Ryan we want to thank you for taking care of Valera, you did a good job." Calleigh said, she then nudged Eric and he sighed.

"Hey man I'm sorry for…you know uh, gettin' down your throat back there."

Ryan nodded at Eric and smiled at Calleigh.

"Thanks you guys. I'm just gonna go…it's kinda been a long day."

"Alright, take care, we'll see you later."

They parted ways and left for their respected homes, to Ryan's knowledge at least.

The next day Valera wasn't at the lab and Ryan deduced that Alexx had convinced her take the day off. Ryan was glad, for both him and her-him, being still petrified of sick people, and of course her to get better.

He called her on his break, but disappointingly he only got her voice mail. His focus wasn't really there, because he was thinking about her. There was no need; really, she was probably at home resting, getting better. But that didn't mean he stopped thinking about her. He finally got fed up with himself and went to see Horatio, trying to bribe him to let him leave early.

"It's real slow around here H, just please, can I leave?"

Horatio looked at Ryan over his sunglasses, pausing and putting a hand on his hip for his usual dramatics.

"Mr. Wolfe…you, you will be doing paperwork tomorrow if you leave…"

"That's fine! Thanks H!"

Horatio smiled to himself and watched as Ryan quickly made his way out of the Lab.

Valera tried to ignore the insistent knocking coming from the other side of her door. Unfortunately, try as she might, she couldn't. She groaned in annoyance as she got up from her comfy couch and slowly made her way to the door.

"What?" she barked through the door.

"It's me," she heard Ryan's voice reply.

Valera slowly opened the door.

"Ryan, what are you doing here?"

He sighed heavily and shrugged.

"Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah sure," she moved aside to let him in," sorry about the mess; I know how you are about clutter and all that junk."

He gave her a crooked grin as he moved past her.

"No, it's alright, don't worry about."

She smiled as she walked toward the couch, waving him over. He slowly made his way over to her, sliding himself down next to her.

An awkward silence followed…

"So," Valera started," what…are you doing here? Something wrong at the lab?"

"Uhh, no. Nothing like that. I just…felt like coming over; seeing how you were feeling…"

Valera blushed.

"Oh. That's…kinda sweet Ryan, thanks."

"Yeah…so…are you okay?"

She turned to look at him, her bright eyes wide.

"Yes! I-I'm fine, thanks you I mean. You…you saved my life Ryan! I mean; I could have died!"

He rolled his eyes at her.

"You weren't gonna die Valera. I mean you were pretty sick yeah, but not…'die-worthy'."

"Yeah well, you weren't the one who was sick."

He chuckled at her.

She gave him a silly grin and got up quickly.

"Um, do you want anything to drink? Or something to eat?" She asked nervously.

He got up as well.

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Right, yeah, OK."

Awkward air filled the room.

"So…"

"Oh! Hey, I wanted to ask you; who's that guy in the picture? The one by your bed?"

She smiled fondly and Ryan briefly wondered if the man really was her boyfriend.

"That's my older brother, Forrest. He came down here for my birthday a couple weeks ago. Why?"

"Oh, uh nothin' just wondered. So, your brother huh?"

She grinned slightly, turning toward the kitchen.

"Yeah, I also have a sister. Why are you so interested?"

His eyes widened at her back, stumbling on his words.

"No reason…so listen I gotta go but maybe we can, you know if you want to, I mean you don't have to say yes, but-"

"Ryan? Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?"

He smiled.

"I'd like that."

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_Should I continue? I don't know. Should you review? Yes. :)_


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